Men's Lacrosse: Castelton tops Mount Ida 11-5

Newton Centre, MA – The Castleton State College men's lacrosse team ended Mount Ida College's six-year run of North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's lacrosse titles with an 11-5 win on a rain-soaked field.

The Mustangs, who had won each of the previous six championships (all over Castleton), have now lost just two games versus conference opponents in their history, both coming at the hands of the Spartans.

Castleton senior Jake Rick (Rochester, MY/West Irondequoit) was awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The Mustangs end their 2010 season with an overall record of 12-7 while the Spartans will move on to their first ever trip to the NCAA tournament with a 13-5 record starting this Wednesday with their opponent TBA.

The Spartans scored the first three goals of the contest to open a commanding lead at 3-0 on two unassisted goals from Rick and freshman Nohea King (St. Albans, VT/Bellows Free Academy). Sophomore Samuel Bailey (Hartford, VT/Western New England College) added the third on a feed from junior Craig MacDerment (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) to start the second frame.

After a very quiet start offensively for Mount Ida, the Mustangs finally cracked the scoreboard with 4:37 to go before the break on a goal from senior Christopher Prophete (Waltham, MA/Waltham) cutting the Spartan advantage to 3-1 heading into halftime.

The Mustangs started the scoring to open the third quarter on a man-up goal from junior Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT/Morgan) off a dish from freshman Nick Yacuzzi (Oakham, MA/St. John’s) cutting the lead to 3-2 with Mount Ida at the door step of a comeback.

Castleton then proceeded to reel off the next three goals to re-open a commanding four goal lead up 6-2 on scores from Bailey, MacDerment, and senior Michael Martinez (Barrington, IL/Barrington) all on unassisted attempts with 10:03 to go in the third.

Mount Ida struggled to get anything going offensively with every challenge answered by Castleton.

They added their third goal of the contest on an unassisted goal from senior Brandon Keith (Barnstable, MA/Barnstable) cutting the Spartan advantage to 6-3 with 6:22 to go in the third.

The Spartans added another keeping the Mustangs at arm’s length up 7-3 on a Martinez goal fed from Bailey at the 2:27 mark in the third stanza.

Mount Ida answered on a Yacuzzi score from junior captain Derek Broughton (Peabody, MA/Peabody) attempting to stay alive for any chance of a late comeback down 7-4 with under two minutes to go in the third quarter.

Castleton would not back down scoring again off another unassisted goal by King up 8-4 to open the fourth frame. The Mustangs scored their fifth and final goal of the contest a minute and change later on a Broughton score from junior Matthew Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) down three (8-5) with 13:46 remaining in the game.

Mount Ida’s hopes for a late heroic comeback were snuffed out while they watched the Spartans score the final three goals of the contest on scores from senior Daniel Luzzi (Oakland, NJ/Ramapo College), Martinez, and King to seal the 11-5 championship victory for the first title win in program and school history.

Castleton outshot Mount Ida 38-33 for the contest and overpowered the Mustangs on face-off, going 11-for-18.

Yacuzzi, Keith, Prophete, Broughton, and Battapaglia all notched one goal apiece for Mount Ida while Martinez and King tallied three goals each for the Spartans. Bailey was also outstanding with two goals and two assists for the visitors.